Do You Ever Feel You’re a Failure?

You compare yourself to master gardeners’ work. (Did you know they have sickly and dying plants too?)

To outstanding photographers. (Did you know that some of their shots are just as bad as some of the ones you think you’ve taken?)

And you’re writing is getting nowhere.

You’ve tried sewing or cooking or painting, and what a disaster that’s been.

I’m a multi-tasker. I love doing lots of things. But what I’ve found is some things I’m better at than other things.

And even the things I’m good at, I’ve taken years to work on: Writing, Gardening, Creating Teddy Bears, Embroidering, Photographing.

I’ve taken classes, workshops and read tons of books on writing.

I’ve read all kinds of articles on gardening.

I’ve watched tons of tutorials and read tons of articles on photographing.

I’ve done these things for years. And yet, there’s ALWAYS room for improvement!!!

What I’ve found is some things I do better than other things. Like writing, for instance. I write what I love. The paranormal. Historical. Romance. Suspense. Mystery. Thrillers. The kind of things that catch my interest. If I try to write something that isn’t–let’s say mainstream fiction, it doesn’t work for me. Maybe some day. But for now, I stick to what I love to write. I’ve tried all kinds of different stories too. I’ve written from children’s stories, to YA, to romantic comedy, to romantic suspense and historical romance. I’ve tried just about everything to find my niche and break in.

On sewing–I don’t make great quilts. I’m not accurate enough. Oh, sure, if I really, really, really wanted to learn, I could. But I’d rather have fun making teddy bears. I’ve made them for decades, and my first sold to stores to resell. They were awful, now that I look back on them. 🙂 Practice makes better.

Painting, ha-ha! My parents were artists. But I have fun creating Photoshop manipulations instead. I watch tutorials on them constantly, and every time I sit down to work on one, I’ve learned something new. It will take me years to get really good at it. If I dedicated all my time to it, I could probably do so much faster. But it’s one of those things that I do when I have a break. They’re addictive and once I get started, I don’t want to let it go. And I love doing them. I want to get better at it. So I continue to work on projects and watch tutorials to learn and improve when I can.

Gardening? Okay, sometimes I don’t have any luck with some kind of plant. I’ll try and try, for years, I’ll try, and then I get smart and try a different kind of plant. Lots of different kinds of plants. And voila! The ones made for me! For my garden. And they’re beautiful and it looks like I’m a master gardener. Now, don’t tell anyone I said so, okay?

So, keep on trying. If something doesn’t work for you, trying something else. Read up on it, keep practicing, try something else, and don’t compare yourself to the masters.

Be yourself and love what you do and that’s all that really matters in the end.

Flight of the White Wolf edits are done, and now I’m working on Cougar Undercover edits!!